February 16, 2008

To many miscues cost Eagles

#6 Drury (21-2, 13-2 GLVC): 72
at Southern Indiana (9-14, 4-11 GLVC): 57
Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team committed 25 turnovers en route to a 72-57 setback to No. 6 Drury University Saturday afternoon at the Physical Activities Center.

USI (9-14, 4-11 GLVC) jumped out to a 9-6 lead early in the contest, but a 12-0 run put the Panthers, who are ranked first in the Great Lakes Region, ahead by nine with just under 12 minutes to play in the first period.

Drury (21-2, 13-2 GLVC) turned USI's 15 first-half turnovers into 15 points as it extended its lead to 44-25 at the intermission. The Panthers pushed their lead to 56-31 less than seven minutes into the second half before the Screaming Eagles could get anything going.

The Eagles used a 12-2 run to cut the Drury lead to 15 points with less than eight minutes to play in the contest. They chiseled the deficit to 13 points with 5:32 to play in the contest, but could not get any closer as the Panthers closed out their league-best 12th straight win.

As a team, the Eagles out-shot Drury 48.8 percent to 39.1 percent and held a 35-33 advantage on the glass. The Panthers, however, turned the ball over just seven times and held a 19-8 advantage in points-off-turnovers.

Jasmine Baines

Lauren Meneghetti

Senior forward Jasmine Baines (Jeffersonville, Indiana), who was 8-for-11 from the floor, led the Eagles with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman guard Lauren Meneghetti (Munster, Indiana) chipped in a career-best 12 points, nine of which came in the first period, while junior guard Brittany Darden (Guthrie, Kentucky) finished with 10 points, eight of which came in the final 20 minutes.

Drury got a team-high 16 points from sophomore guard/forward Lindsay Ballweg as well as 13 points each from sophomore forward/center Melanie Oliver and sophomore forward Sara Bos. Ballweg was 7-of-9 from the field, while Bos grabbed a team-best nine rebounds.

USI visits Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and Quincy University Saturday at 1 p.m. to finish its 2007-08 road schedule. The Eagles are at home February 28, against Missouri University S&T, and March 1, against the University of Missouri-St. Louis, to close out the regular season.

Fans are encouraged to wear pink Thursday at SIU Edwardsville and February 28 at the PAC as the two schools team up with the WBCA to promote Breast Cancer Awareness.

Dan McDonnell,
USI Sports Information